WORLD, INTERNET, DO YOU FEEL ALIVE!!!!

Basara gets it. So does the whole cast of Macross 7. The Yapan Express also gets it. The whole bloody cast of Gurren Lagann get it (YES, EVEN THE ANTI-SPIRALS.) Tomino finally gets it. Kawamori probably got it, but seems to have lost it in some bizarre ritual involving a giant lump of cash. GAINAX has finally got it. CLANNAD tried it hardest to get it, but probably fell very, very short. And on the flipside of getting it, planetarian and Iriya No Sora probably got it, though it’s been ages since I experienced either work and my mind is extremely fuzzy on it. The fine trolls at Colony Drop know and get it, but are probably using the worst possible way to express it.

Ironically, there are a lot of people who don’t get it. Top of the pops is that brain-dead nobrow troll Owen S aka saturnine. DarkMirage also does not and will not get it, for all the education and 2 years in the fucking Singapore Armed Forces have given and will give him. Hideaki Anno will never get it, because his head is too stuck up his smug ass to even consider it. Zac Bertschy and pretty much a good amount of the ANN team will probably never get it too. And it’s a safe bet that the likes of Kaioshin will never grasp the mere workings of this totally awesome idea . Japan, sadly, does not have the infrastructure to even get on the path to get it.

But what am I going on about here that makes me sound like some idiot who wrote a book slamming moral and cultural relativity and then going on about how the Army is turning us into zombies (and not via nanobots or violent chemical reactions, mind you)? What is this totally awesome idea that a lot of people are dismissing or are not getting (and are getting)? Why is Owen such a shit troll (Answer: Because he is fundamentally, an asshole, that answers that question)?

It has something to do with art (be it high culture, low culture, animé, cartoons, PIXAR masterpieces, etc) being more than just another way to lull the masses and to sell stuff. Art, in one form or another, has always been more than just pretty paint on canvas, bytes on a CD, or even flickering pixels on your LCD screen.

From painted rock walls, to the grandeur of the Taj Mahal, to the painted frescoes in the Vatican, to stained-glass windows in churches, to the Elgin Marbles, to the Acropolis in Rome, to the Eiffel Tower in France, to the Mona Lisa, to Shakespeare, to Bach, to Issac Asimov, to Plato, when you see, read, hear, or otherwise experience any form of art, what is the first thing you note?

That upsurge of feeling that forces itself out whether you like it or not. The sense of wonder. The tears that seem to fall out no matter how much you try to hold it in. That surge of adrenalin you get when an exciting moment comes on. The anger that burns in your heart when justice is not done. The feeling that such things of beauty, ambition, literary mastery, and refined wit, is something that is beyond us. The feeling of BEING HUMAN. THE FEELING. OF. BEING. ALIVE.

Animé, like all forms of human expression, is supposed to be filled with raw emotion, under the framework of good basic technical framework, such as a good script, or art technique, or a basic story structure, for example. But it is more than just that.

WORDS MEAN NOTHING! FEEL THE PASSION OF THE SONG!

There’s a very good reason why I had to link the Overman King Gainer OP. The lyrics make absolutely no sense whatsoever. This is the equivalent of throwing all established rules out the window, and still ends up being AWESOME due to the raw emotion. This, I have to highly stress, is an exception to the rule.

But listen to the song for a moment. Ignore the confusing graphics and obviously charismatic dancing for a bit. LISTEN TO THE SONG. It gives off an energy quite unlike any other. (You could also search Youtube for “Masaki Endoh”. Same effect)

It’s that same energy I’m talking about. It’s this “energy” that creates the feeling of being alive, so much more alive than what the world cares to give.

And that, in my opinion, is what art, and specifically animé, is all about. It’s not about attention-whoring, or about troll wars, or about thinking the world owes you a million blowjobs or something, or about what makes show tick (though that last bit is very important, especially for people who LOVE the scientific method). It’s about PASSION, BEING HUMAN, and A JOURNEY INTO DISCOVERING THE SOURCE OF THESE FEELINGS. I’m not advocating animé = life here, but I do advocate animé as a jumping-off point into discovering the source of these feelings.

Coincidentally, about Haruhi, I find the same sort of energy you find in Gurren Lagann, Macross 7, and Overman King Gainer (unsurprisingly, these 3 are my favorite shows thus far.) coming out of the cashcow, though how does KyoAni does it and how does the show manage to generate it, is not within my knowledge to understand it. Still, one must appreciate such an effort, even if the only thing it has going for it is being merch advertisment and fanbaiting. Kadokawa does not treat this hot franchise very well, it seems. Even if the fine folks at Colony Drop were trolling about the harem aspect of the show.

And with that…

Rationalism is dead and postmodernism lives on,

HOWEVER, the journey of being human lives on in my head and in my heart!

Finding the centre of the human experience,

Even at the edge of despair, I will never give up!

WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I AM???

I am myself! Not others, But MYSELF, A HUMAN BEING!

And woe betide anyone, or anything who dares interfere!

ED: OH SHIT I HAVE TRANSCENDED THE ARGUMENT I AM NOT GOOD AT BEING AKAGI